When Congress had assembled, I rose in my place, and in as short a
speech as the subject would admit, represented the state of the
colonies, the uncertainty in the minds of the people, their great
expectation and anxiety, the distresses of the army, the danger of its
dissolution, the difficulty of collecting another, and the probability
that the British army would take advantage of our delays, march out
of Boston, and spread desolation as far as they could go. I concluded
with a motion, in form, that Congress would adopt the army at
Cambridge, and appoint a general; that tho this was not the proper
time to nominate a general, yet, as I had reason to believe, this was
a point of the greatest difficulty. I had no hesitation to declare
that I had but one gentleman in my mind for that important command,
and that was a gentleman from Virginia who was among us and very well
known to all of us, a gentleman whose skill and experience as an
officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent
universal character, would command the approbation of all America, and
unite the cordial exertions of all the colonies better than any other
person in the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the
door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, from his usual modesty,
darted into the library-room. Mr. Hancock--who was our President,
which gave me an opportunity to observe his countenance while I was
speaking on the state of the colonies, the army at Cambridge, and the
enemy--heard me with visible pleasure; but when I came to describe
Washington for the commander, I never remarked a more sudden and
striking change of countenance. Mortification and resentment were
exprest as forcibly as his face could exhibit them. Mr. Samuel Adams
seconded the motion, and that did not soften the President's
physiognomy at all.
[Footnote 29: From the "Diary," printed in the "Works of John Adams,"
as edited by Charles Francis Adams. In his speech naming Washington,
Adams referred to him as "one who could unite the cordial exertions of
all the colonies better than any other person." Two days later he
wrote to his wife that Congress had chosen "the modest and virtuous,
the amiable, generous and brave George Washington, Esq., to be chief
of the American army."]
The subject came under debate, and several gentlemen declared
themselves against the appointment of Mr. Washington, not on account
of any personal objection against him, but because the army were all
from New England, had a general of their own, appeared to be satisfied
with him, and had proved themselves able to imprison the British army
in Boston, which was all they expected or desired at that time. Mr.
Pendleton, of Virginia, Mr. Sherman, of Connecticut, were very
explicit in declaring this opinion; Mr. Cushing and several others
more faintly exprest their opposition, and their fears of discontents
in the army and in New England. Mr. Paine exprest a great opinion of
General Ward and a strong friendship for him, having been his
classmate at college, or at least his contemporary; but gave no
opinion upon the question. The subject was postponed to a future day.
In the mean time, pains were taken out-of-doors to obtain a unanimity,
and the voices were generally so clearly in favor of Washington, that
the dissentient members were persuaded to withdraw their opposition,
and Mr. Washington was nominated, I believe by Mr. Thomas Johnson of
Maryland, unanimously elected, and the army adopted.